Tales from the Underground
by AnnAisu
Summary: A collection of short stories, drabbles, and prompts for Undertale. Feel free to leave a comment with a prompt, and I might write it for you. 1 - Flames and Friendship in 'Fell - Sans has an issue with the dogs in town; you're there to help and for the aftermath. 2 - Wiping the Slate - What happens after the happy story, when everything inevitably resets?
1. Flames and Friendship in 'Fell

This is a birthday gift fic for JadeSaphire97! Thanks for reading my stories and leaving comments; I hope you treasure this story as much as I treasure them.  
Prompt: "I really don't like the thought of Sans being beat up by Paps and the other monsters laughing at his misery. So I thought maybe there could be a female werewolf monster. Who works for Grillby, by making sure the VERY aggressive drunks don't destroy the bar. She knows fire magic thanks to Grillby, and when there is a public beating, they stop it and get Sans inside to eat something and to heal his wounds. She has a soft spot for things smaller than her."

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

There's a commotion going on outside; not that this was entirely unusual, but the waves of malice emanating from the crowd were far stronger than normal. There was a natural level of anger and violence in the air, of course, but that was nothing compared to what you could feel right now. You shot a quick glance at your boss, and Grillby met your gaze before giving you a curt nod. Permission granted for you to go outside and find out what was going on. The bar was almost completely empty, and the few that remained were smart enough to not try to give Grillby a hard time while you were gone.

It wasn't as if he couldn't defend himself, of course; the fire monster had been the one to teach you the fire magics you called upon so often to defend yourself, and you knew that he was probably far stronger than you. It was your job to knock down any drunkards who got to uppity, though, to slam them back into place if they thought they could start destroying the bar. You were the one to break up the fights when they got physical, to take care of the idiots so that Grillby could focus on the food.

You were quite good at your job, if you were honest with yourself. The local monsters had grown to learn that you were not to be trifled with; you were a wolf that wouldn't accept their behavior. Bigger and now stronger than most of the local monsters, you had earned your respect and right to intervene when fights got out of hand.

Judging by the sounds of the scene you were starting to make out, you would be enforcing that right soon enough. The crowd was jeering, and you could see most of the dog pack circling around their chosen target. You were a werewolf, nothing like the mutts – you were proud and powerful, and you were your own alpha. It was your right to protect those smaller than you, a right you had fought for and earned.

You clenched your fists, fire starting to crackle along your hands and up your arms. Light played across your fur, burning only what you wished it to burn – never yourself or what you wished no harm. You had trained hard and long for your control, and it paid off now. The hiss of flames was warning enough for the crowd to start backing away, clearing a path lest they find themselves the target of your anger.

You could finally see the victim of the 'Royal Guards' ire; it was Sans. The smaller skeleton looked to be in bad shape, sweat pouring off his skull as he staggered in place. His jacket was ripped, and you could see large scratches that had torn through his clothing. The dogs must have gotten lucky, or taken the chance to ambush Sans while his brother was gone. Papyrus, the Captain of the Royal Guard, allowed no one to hurt his subordinates but himself, and that applied to his brother as well as the rest of the mutts. The taller, more aggressive skeleton had been called up to the castle, and wouldn't return for another day or two yet.

This meant there was nothing stopping you from stopping the pack. You didn't bother warning them before you were suddenly amongst them, fire flinging from your fingertips as the air was filled with howls and the scent of scorched fur. Fire and bones danced as you fought, Sans attacking as well now that he was no longer forced to be on the defense. "c'mon guys, didn't you want me to throw you a _bone_?"

A high pitched yelp followed the skeleton's pun as a particularly nasty bone attack smacked into a canine muzzle. Finally, the dogs were gone, and the crowd had long since dispersed. Harsh pants filled the air, and you examined the exhausted skeleton who had fought behind you. He was clearly worse for wear, tired and torn up, looking so vulnerable even though you'd just seen the prowess of his magic. After a moment of hesitation, you called out to him. "Let's go inside. Grillby has a burger bottle of mustard with your name written on it."

He chuckled lowly, straightening up and regaining his good humor. " _doggone it,_ you know i can't resist grillby's food." You let out a huff of amusement as you led the way back to Grillby's, Sans right beside you. When you made it back inside the warm building, you found that the few patrons inside had already left and Grillby had closed the bar. It was late, and after a scene like the one outside mere minutes ago, the wiser monsters would be holed up in their moderately-safer houses. It was just plain rude to attack monsters in their own home, not to mention liable to get the attacker killed by someone else.

This all just meant there was no audience as Sans slumped against the bar, not bothering to act tough when you and Grillby were the only ones there. He knew that you both cared for him, and he maintained at least a moderate affection for both of you as well. You had all proved it to each other time and again: Grillby giving the both of you food, you taking care of any fights that threatened either of the other two, and Sans making sure that you were under his brother's protection as well. It was…nice, having people you could almost trust, be friendly with and not worry that they would attack you – would protect you, even.

Grillby placed a burger in front of Sans as you pulled down a glass of mustard, one of the unopened ones specifically meant for the skeleton's consumption. You looked up in surprise as Grillby placed a burger before you as well, his harsh flames letting out a pleased crackle – his own version of a, "Good job."

Taking it for what it was, you slipped into the seat next to Sans and enjoyed your well-earned break and food. You growled lowly in contentment as you enjoyed the food; Grillby had made you your favorite. Sans chuckled beside you as he bit into his own favorite meal, slathered with absolutely ridiculous amounts of mustard. "heh. thanks for the intervention, pal, but you know i could have handled it myself."

Sans replacement fang gleamed in the light from Grillby's fire, and you knew full well how dangerous the smaller skeleton could be. You knew he'd pulled himself out of scrapes before…but you also knew how fragile he was. You couldn't help your desire to protect him, protect those smaller than you who deserved to be protected. It would only take one truly lucky shot, and Sans would be dust.

"Sure, but you know I'm always ready to knock those dogs down a peg or two." Sans chuckled, and you felt a smile pull up the corners of your lips as well. Your smile would never match the skeleton's grin, but after a few jokes and time spent in each other's company, you felt that your smile could give him a run for his money.

"aww, wolfy isn't happy the dogs got into a fight on her territory?" Sans teased. The dogs may have run of the woods, but this town was _yours_. Well, and the Captain's, but he seemed appeased that you made his job easier as long as you remained respectful towards him. You were pretty sure that his leniency towards you was almost entirely due to your friendship with Sans. The brothers didn't show it very well, but you knew that they cared about each other more than anyone else in the Underground.

"This 'wolfy' isn't happy when others get hurt, you bonehead." You reach over and playfully noogie him. …The noogie was more of your warm paw gently rubbing against his mostly smooth skull, a gentle comfort to you both. "Especially when the one getting hurt is my friend," you admit.

Sans didn't say anything for a moment, just tearing into his burger. You watched as his energy began to rise, magic rushing to his face. "they just got lucky shot in, jade. no need to worry. it ain't gonna happen again."

This time you smacked him upside the head. It didn't hurt him of course, but it clearly let him know you thought he was being an idiot. "You're being an idiot," you repeated aloud to emphasize this fact. "One day they'll get more than just a 'lucky shot in', and then what'll I do?"

Sans shrugged, unbothered. "eh, that just means there'd be more mustard for you and grillby." Nope. You weren't having this. This called for some serious measures.

You got up from your chair, and Sans stared up at you with wide eyes. He looked so small, there, even with his fluffy jacket making him look a full size larger than he actually was. He looked nervous, unsure of what you'd do, sweat starting to drip again. You ignored that, and swept him into a giant hug.

"You numbskull," you mutter into his jacket. "We'd miss you if you weren't here anymore. No one else drinks your stupid mustard or eats half as much of our food as you do." Grillby crackled silently before you, alerting you to his presence and agreeing with your words. You could feel Sans face heat up where you were pressing to your chest, but you didn't let him go. The idiot needed to be reminded of how much you cared for him.

After several long moments, he relaxed into you, bony arms coming up to encircle you in a reflection of how you'd wrapped yourself around him. You buried your sensitive nose into his jacket beside his skull, enjoying the scent of mustard, magic, and bones that had come to mean friendship to you.

"thanks, jade," he whispered. He must be more tired than you had thought, if he was being so honest, not even dropping a pun or terrible joke. You just squeezed him tighter, enjoying the warmth in the air. This was what you had trained for. This is what you would protect.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

I can't help it; I can't write Papyrus being cruel to Sans. They do get in fights, and they do have a lot of issues, but they still love each other, and nothing can convince me otherwise. It's just different and harder to see in Underfell, when the Underground is so cruel. It's not the best, but they're brotherly bond is still strong. I may have written out some of my Underfell head-canons a while back, and worked out a backstory for the story I'll one day write… *sheepish smile*  
So I may have picked on the dogs instead. They're a tight-knit pack, and protect one another, but… I needed someone to pick on Sans. *sweatdrop* Trust me, they definitely had a bad time in return, and Papyrus was Not Pleased when he got back (well, he will be, if he finds out). I just suck at writing fight scenes, so I maybe blurred over that?  
.oOo.  
This was a prompt I wrote for someone else, and I had a lot of fun writing this. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, that I'm opening up to prompts from anybody who wants to send me one. I won't promise that I'll write it, but I will definitely strongly consider it. So, if you have anything you want to see in the Undertale universe, leave a comment or send me an ask through my tumblr - .com. I'm willing to work with common AU's and maybe whatever pairing... even if I won't write it, I promise not to judge.


	2. Wiping the Slate

Wiping the Slate

I've always wondered what happens in the stories, where the Reader makes friends with Sans and Papyrus, and the rest of the Undertale group. The discussion of Resets will inevitably pop up, and You make promises, reassure them that everything is alright...  
But, really, have you thought about how a True Reset works?

.oOo. oOo. .oOo.

There's a skeleton staring at you, little white lights in the place of eyes tracking your movements. You were just watching him from the corner of your eye, yet the pain on his face was clear to see. It looked like loss, regret, anger, pain, guilt, abandonment… your own heart pulsed in sympathy, as if you could feel an echo of that cocktail of emotional despair within you.

He looked familiar, which was a weird and unreal feeling, since you'd barely had any contact with the recently released monsters, and you'd definitely never met this skeleton before in this life of yours. You want to get to know him, though. Want to find out if (that) he has a fondness for bad jokes, if (that) he has nightmares that make him doubt the reality of the world, (that) he's worried everything will be torn away from him, that he's patient and laid back until he's been forced to the edge of the apocalypse, where he snaps back with all the ferocity of an angered dragon, why it feels like the two of you could be (are) (once were) such good friends…

You shift in (expectance) surprise as another skeleton walks up towards him, tall where the other is small, pointed where the other is curved, loud where the other is contained. You feel that you should know him too, but there's something terribly wrong about this picture. You're expecting the new arrival to shot, to emote expressively, but he just crouches down to (his brother's) level and speaks to him quietly.

(Sans) looks at him for a moment and shrugs, looking down for a moment before turning back towards you, still with that mix of painful expressions that makes your heart ache and burn. (Papyrus) follows his gaze, and you see his mouth quirk up in an empty grin (that he learned from his brother) but it did nothing to hide the pain in his gentle black eyes. You saw tears start to form before he firmly tears his gaze away from you, catching his brother's skull in his phalanges. (Papyrus) lifts (Sans) head until their eyes meet, and you can see the defeat on the upturned face before (Papyrus) bent down, gently bringing their foreheads together and whispering words of comfort. Some of the pain slides off both of their faces at the reminder that someone is still there, that someonewill at least remember –

You want to go over there and drag them both into a hug, hold them tight and tell them that you'll never leave, that you promised – you swore on your soul that you would always love them and their entire ragtag family, no matter what came your way or whatever trials you faced – together.

But that's a ridiculous thought. You shouldn't intrude on such a private, emotional moment. After all, you've never met these two strangers before.

…no matter how much your heart screams otherwise.


End file.
